I recently had my first experience with one of Donnhoff's wines - a
2000 Hermannshohle Auslese that showed few signs of being from a
relatively poor vintage (aside from slightly low acidity, compared to
most other German Rieslings I've had) and blew me away with each sip.
Since then I've kept my eye out for more, particularly his Spatlesen
which I've heard a lot about.

A local retailer has stock of a handful from 03 and 04 at quite
reasonable prices. Wines a
2003 Oberhauser Brucke Riesling Spatlese
2004 Oberhauser Brucke Riesling Spatlese
2004 Schlossbockelheim Felsenberg Riesling Spatlese
2004 Schlossbockelheim Kupfergrube Riesling Spatlese

Was wondering if anyone has experience with these wines, and could
recommend one of the four to start off with to introduce myself to
Donnhoff's Spats.

Thanks,

Salil

On Oct 14, 11:35 pm, Salil > wrote:
> I recently had my first experience with one of Donnhoff's wines - a
> 2000 Hermannshohle Auslese that showed few signs of being from a
> relatively poor vintage (aside from slightly low acidity, compared to
> most other German Rieslings I've had) and blew me away with each sip.
> Since then I've kept my eye out for more, particularly his Spatlesen
> which I've heard a lot about.
>
> A local retailer has stock of a handful from 03 and 04 at quite
> reasonable prices. Wines a
> 2003 Oberhauser Brucke Riesling Spatlese
> 2004 Oberhauser Brucke Riesling Spatlese
> 2004 Schlossbockelheim Felsenberg Riesling Spatlese
> 2004 Schlossbockelheim Kupfergrube Riesling Spatlese
>
> Was wondering if anyone has experience with these wines, and could
> recommend one of the four to start off with to introduce myself to
> Donnhoff's Spats.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Salil


Salil,
Start with the Oberhauser Brucke 2004. Then ask your wine salesman
about the 2005 Donhoff Estate riesling. Buy many cases of that.

Salil wrote:
> I recently had my first experience with one of Donnhoff's wines - a
> 2000 Hermannshohle Auslese that showed few signs of being from a
> relatively poor vintage (aside from slightly low acidity, compared to
> most other German Rieslings I've had) and blew me away with each sip.
> Since then I've kept my eye out for more, particularly his Spatlesen
> which I've heard a lot about.
>
> A local retailer has stock of a handful from 03 and 04 at quite
> reasonable prices. Wines a
> 2003 Oberhauser Brucke Riesling Spatlese
> 2004 Oberhauser Brucke Riesling Spatlese
> 2004 Schlossbockelheim Felsenberg Riesling Spatlese
> 2004 Schlossbockelheim Kupfergrube Riesling Spatlese

Salil,
You can't go wrong with any of the '04s. '03 was such an atypical
year that I'd not start with it. However, all those wines will need
lots of time to come into their own. Can you lay them down for 5-10 years?

Mark Lipton
--
alt.food.wine FAQ: http://winefaq.hostexcellence.com

On Oct 15, 12:45 pm, Mark Lipton > wrote:
> Salil,
> You can't go wrong with any of the '04s. '03 was such an atypical
> year that I'd not start with it. However, all those wines will need
> lots of time to come into their own. Can you lay them down for 5-10 years?
>
> Mark Lipton

Eventually that would be the long term intention. But as I've not
tried a single one of the Spatlesen yet, I'd quite like to sample at
least one or two a bit younger over the course of 3-4 days before
getting an idea of what to buy and lay down for a decade or so.

Salil wrote:

>
> Eventually that would be the long term intention. But as I've not
> tried a single one of the Spatlesen yet, I'd quite like to sample at
> least one or two a bit younger over the course of 3-4 days before
> getting an idea of what to buy and lay down for a decade or so.
>

Fair enough. It's not as if you can't enjoy them young, but most people
find them more enjoyable with a fair amount of bottle age. You might
try aerating them now with a 1-2 hour decant to help the sulfur blow off
and the wines open up a bit more. Anyway, enjoy -- Dönnhof is one of
the gold standards for German winemaking.

Mark Lipton

p.s. I take it that this opportunity is in Chicago? If it's open to
more than you, could you drop me a line with the details? It sounds
like a great opportunity.
--
alt.food.wine FAQ: http://winefaq.hostexcellence.com

On 15 Oct, 05:45, Mark Lipton > wrote:
> Salil wrote:
> > I recently had my first experience with one of Donnhoff's wines - a
> > 2000 Hermannshohle Auslese that showed few signs of being from a
> > relatively poor vintage (aside from slightly low acidity, compared to
> > most other German Rieslings I've had) and blew me away with each sip.
> > Since then I've kept my eye out for more, particularly his Spatlesen
> > which I've heard a lot about.
>
> > A local retailer has stock of a handful from 03 and 04 at quite
> > reasonable prices. Wines a
> > 2003 Oberhauser Brucke Riesling Spatlese
> > 2004 Oberhauser Brucke Riesling Spatlese
> > 2004 Schlossbockelheim Felsenberg Riesling Spatlese
> > 2004 Schlossbockelheim Kupfergrube Riesling Spatlese
>
> Salil,
> You can't go wrong with any of the '04s. '03 was such an atypical
> year that I'd not start with it. However, all those wines will need
> lots of time to come into their own. Can you lay them down for 5-10 years?
>
> Mark Lipton
> --
> alt.food.wine FAQ: http://winefaq.hostexcellence.com

On the contrary, I would pitch for the 2003. Here is what Helmut
Doennhof had to say about it (FT):
"At first we thought that 2003 was too dry and ripe for Riesling, but
after the first tasting of the wines we immediately saw the balance.
The acidity is very pure and pronounced. Normally we lose about a gram
of acidity during fermentation but not in 2003. This is definitely my
best vintage yet, better even than 1971, but it needed more work than
any other, especially in the vineyard, because it was complicated by
extremes. It was as though I were suddenly given a Ferrari but there
was no-one to tell me how to drive it. It was possible to make far
more mistakes in 2003 than usual"

And here is what his almost-next-door neighbour, Dr. Peter Crusius
said in a VDP (Verband deutscher Praedikatsweingueter) publication:
"Simply the best! Nur mit Jahrhundert-Jahrgängen wie 1959 und 1971
ergleichbar! "
(Transl: Simply the best! Only comparable to the centennial-class
years like 1959 and 1971)

I have some 2004 Oberhaeuser Bruecke Spaetlese from Doennhof; and of
course, it is very good in a classical Nahe way - nice balance and
lovely minerality. But 2003 is a Unikat (unless of course we have more
of these freak summers). I wish I had some bottles of that to lay...

Prost!

Go for the 2003's. :-)
Wein-plus points and drinking times for the mentioned wines a
2003 Oberhauser Brucke Riesling Spatlese 92, till 2020
2004 Oberhauser Brucke Riesling Spatlese 87, till 2008
2004 Schlossbockelheim Felsenberg Riesling Spatlese n.a.
2004 Schlossbockelheim Kupfergrube Riesling Spatlese 84. till 2007 (Note
that a wein-plus score of 84 is 'very good')

Point levels for their other 2003's are significantly higher than for
corresponding 2004's.

However, your mileage may be different - I'd try them all :-)

Anders



"Salil" > skrev i melding
oups.com...
>I recently had my first experience with one of Donnhoff's wines - a
> 2000 Hermannshohle Auslese that showed few signs of being from a
> relatively poor vintage (aside from slightly low acidity, compared to
> most other German Rieslings I've had) and blew me away with each sip.
> Since then I've kept my eye out for more, particularly his Spatlesen
> which I've heard a lot about.
>
> A local retailer has stock of a handful from 03 and 04 at quite
> reasonable prices. Wines a
> 2003 Oberhauser Brucke Riesling Spatlese
> 2004 Oberhauser Brucke Riesling Spatlese
> 2004 Schlossbockelheim Felsenberg Riesling Spatlese
> 2004 Schlossbockelheim Kupfergrube Riesling Spatlese
>
> Was wondering if anyone has experience with these wines, and could
> recommend one of the four to start off with to introduce myself to
> Donnhoff's Spats.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Salil
>

On Oct 18, 11:17 pm, "Anders Tørneskog" >
wrote:
> Go for the 2003's. :-)
> Wein-plus points and drinking times for the mentioned wines a
> 2003 Oberhauser Brucke Riesling Spatlese 92, till 2020
> 2004 Oberhauser Brucke Riesling Spatlese 87, till 2008
> 2004 Schlossbockelheim Felsenberg Riesling Spatlese n.a.
> 2004 Schlossbockelheim Kupfergrube Riesling Spatlese 84. till 2007 (Note
> that a wein-plus score of 84 is 'very good')
>
> Point levels for their other 2003's are significantly higher than for
> corresponding 2004's.
>
> However, your mileage may be different - I'd try them all :-)
>
> Anders

Yeah, eventually I'll have to try them all. I'm not a big believer in
points when Rieslings like these are concerned - I'm also more
interested in exploring the different nuances in each wine from
different vineyards rather than just finding the one with the highest
scores.

Did have the chance to open the 04 Felsenberg recently along with an
03 Kabinett. Both were closed (the bottles were opened at 3 pm) at
first, but after some patient waiting and an hour in the decanter
later in the evening, they started opening quite beautifully. The
Felsenberg was mesmerising. Amazingly pure, clean with a level of
complexity and subtlety I've very rarely come across.
I also picked up the Brucke - looking forward to exploring that over a
2-3 day period. Can't wait.

Salil